Mike Sullivan called it "very encouraging" that Sidney Crosby participated in the Penguins' morning skate here today, and he's not the type to recklessly add adjectival modifiers, especially in the context of knowing well in advance Sid wouldn't dress for this game.

So, could he play less than 24 hours later in Philadelphia?

I can attest from carefully watching the higher-intensity portions of the skate -- mind you, that's never too high -- that Sid wasn't showing signs of favoring either side of his upper body when shooting, passing or stickhandling:

Sullivan's scheduled to meet with media at Wells Fargo Center at 5 p.m. Faceoff's at 6:08.

• Evgeni Malkin's on the trip. Nothing's changed about his status. What I'm hearing is that we'll see him again after the 4 Nations Face-Off break.

• Boko Imama sustained an upper-body injury in the second period and was ruled out of returning. Sullivan didn't have further details.

• Alex Nedeljković wasn't wild about either of the two New York goals he gave up, and he really didn't like the timing of the second one by Adam Fox, coming 1:14 after the Penguins had tied it up early in the second period. But he was at his absolute best in stopping the Rangers' final 18 shots of the game, all seven in the third period, and all three on the two power plays in that period. "I saved my best for last," he'd quip.

• Yeah, the Penguins are on a 3-0-1 roll, but I'm tentatively anticipating Joel Blomqvist finally getting his first start since the Jan. 25 loss in Seattle, against the Flyers, being that faceoff will come 23 hours after the one here. But we'll see.

• Emil Bemstrom's NHL return saw him log 18 shifts for 12:40 of ice time with one shot and a strong possession metric in that, while he was on the ice at five-on-five, the Penguins had 10 shot attempts to the Rangers' four. Don't miss the talk I had with the AHL affiliate's leading scorer after the morning skate related to changes he's made to stick this time. A lot of what we discussed played out in this game. Sullivan said Bemstrom played "a strong game," adding, "He brings a lot of speed, and I thought he was physical on the forecheck."

• I never write anything positive about Noel Acciari, so here's making amends: He had a sharp assist on Blake Lizotte's goal early in the second period ...

... as well as a team-high four hits and three blocks.

• Another game, another game-winning goal for Phil Tomasino: He's got seven total, and five have been winners. No one in the NHL has more since his Nov. 27 arrival via trade.

• I have never seen Anthony Beauvillier skate the way he did in this game. Shot out of a cannon. He told me it wasn't any special occasion, that he "just felt good." Also might've been that Sid's absence had him bumped up to the top line.

• Kris Letang's first period saw him on the ice for 17 shot attempts by the Penguins, none for the Rangers. It's not an outlier. He's been quietly very good of late.

• The third period marked the third time in franchise history the Penguins didn't have a shot in a period, the first since Dec. 21, 2019, in Vancouver, British Columbia, a 4-1 loss.

• The Rangers' Vince Trocheck, the Upper St. Clair native, wasn't about to disrespect his hometown team, but he did have this to say afterward purely from the New York perspective: "We can’t have that. It’s inexcusable. We know where we’re at in the standings. We know we need every point. With two games left before break, you can’t have what just happened.”

• On to Philly. And no skate there, by the way.